"Moe Fotuaika is the big one. He is Tongan and I know he looks up to Jason Taumalolo.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him get out there. I know he's going to be excited and nervous.

"I'm really excited with what he could develop into. Some of the contact he is doing in sessions is scary for a kid his age.

"The boys really respect him and like him."

Fotuaika played 16 games last year in his debut NRL season, with only two starting appearances in the front row.

He is in line for spot on the Gold Coast's bench in Round 1, but can prove to Brennan he is up for anything by confronting the Cowboys with a powerful performance.

Brennan is full of optimism entering his second season as head coach of the Titans.

He believes his squad is better prepared than they were last year and that will give them confidence.

"They've put a lot of hard work in and trained as hard as I've seen an NRL team train," he said.

"If players take shortcuts at training they know deep down they haven't done the work and tend to look for shortcuts throughout the whole year.

"This year no player has taken any shortcuts. Hopefully that will give them confidence.

"It's important we put in a good performance and take some confidence out of it."

Titans big guns Ash Taylor (shoulder) and Ryan James (knee) are not fit to play Saturday, while Brennan has rested the likes of Jarrod Wallace, Shannon Boyd, Kevin Proctor, Nathan Peats and Michael Gordon.

The Titans will play their final trial before the NRL season against the Broncos at Cbus Super Stadium next Saturday.